THE ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USED IN PRINTED ADVERTISEMENTS ON VOGUE MAGAZINE AND WOMEN S WEEKLY MAGAZINE I Nyoman Adi Putera Mahardika English Department Faculty of Letters Udayana University Abstrak : Di dalam iklan banyak digunakan bahasa figuratif dengan terdapat makna tersirat yang dapat diungkapkan dengan cara mengetahui jenis bahasa figuratifnya terlebih dahulu. Tulisan ini mengklasifikasikan jenis-jenis bahasa figuratif yang terkandung di dalam iklan-iklan yang terdapat dalam Majalah Vogue dan Women s Weekly. Juga menjelaskan fungsi dari setiap bahasa figuratif yang terdapat dalam iklan-iklan tersebut. Kata Kunci : iklan, figuratif, dan fungsi 1. Background Advertising is one of the most complex processes of communication because it involves persuasion that is a phenomenon with many implications for both the sender and the receiver of the message. The complexity of an advertisement might be measured by questions such as: who says what? to whom? by what means? to what effect? The answers will demonstrate that language is only one component of the advertisement and that, although it seems simple, advertising is an intricate process where each word is carefully selected for maximum effect. One of many ways advertising achieved maximum effect is by employing figurative language. The figurative language requires special interpretation since it is an unorthodox type of language, according to Leech (1966, p.181-2). Acording to Liberman & Foster (1968), "the strength of figurative language lies in an evocative rather than denotative power and in an ability to deal suggestively with feelings and qualities in contexts where scientific literality would be incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading." In this sense figurative language is used in advertising as a creative device which catches people's attention and persuades them to buy products or services.
2. Problems of Study Based on the background above, the problems can be formulated as follows : 1. What types of figurative language are used in advertisements found in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine? 2. What is the purpose of using figurative language in advertisements found in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine? 3. Aims of the Study Based on the problem above, the aims of this study can be divided into: 1. To identify the types of figurative language in advertisements found in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine. 2. To analyze the purpose of using figurative language in advertisements found in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine. 4. Research Method The research method in this study deals with the data source, method and technique of collecting data, method and technique of analyzing and presenting the analysis. Data Source The data in this study that are in the form figurative language were taken from Vogue magazine October 2008 edition and Women s Weekly magazine, July 2008 edition. This magazine was chosen as the data source because it was two of best magazines and it had a lot of advertisements that use figurative language. Method and Technique of Collecting Data The data were collected through a library research, which means that the data source was read repeatedly to identify the advertisements that contain figurative language. Then the note taking method was used by making notes of various types of figurative language found in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine.
Method and Technique of Analyzing Data In this study, qualitative methods were applied. The data were recorded, classified and analyzed descriptively. Firstly, they were classified on the basis of the figurative language type based on the theory proposed by McQuarrie and Mick (1996). Secondly, the analysis was on the purpose of the figurative language by using a theory proposed by Perrine (1982). 5. Analysis Advertisement 1 Headline : Special Delivery From 10022-SHOE Illustration: Postcard that serves as platform for headline and body copy and assortment of shoes. Body Copy : Saks Fifth Avenue's designer shoe salon - so big it has its own "ZIP Code" Signature Line : Saks Fifth Avenue and Giuseppe Zanotti Standing Details : saks.com This advertisement has a figurative language in its body copy. The sentence "Saks Fifth Avenue's designer shoe salon - so big it has its own "ZIP Code"" contains a hyperbole. The phrase "so big it has its own "ZIP Code"" is a hyperbole since it exaggerates the size of Saks Fifth Avenue's designer shoe salon. Based on Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the word "zip code" means a number you put below the address on an envelope to help the post office deliver the mail more quickly. A zip code usually covers a wide area, more than a district or severals blocks. Saks Fifth Avenue's designer shoe salon in New York occupies only a floor in Saks building, so saying that Saks Fifth Avenue's designer shoe salon has its own zip code is clearly an exaggeration or hyperbole. The hyperbole is used in this advertisement to add emotional intensity to otherwise merely informative statements. The hyperbole "it has it's own ZIP Code" add emotional intensity to the word "big". Advertisement 2 Headline : The replenishing power of Pro-Xylane Absolutely voluptuous lips Illustration: Face of a beautiful girl Body Copy : New L'ABSOLUTE ROUGE
Advance Replenishing & Reshaping Lipcolor Pro-Xylane TM SPF 12 Sunscreen - For the first time, Lancôme brings Pro-Xylane TM, its most complete and powerful replenishing molecule, to a lipcolor. - Deep hydration pampers lips for 8 hours. the creamy, luscious formula plumps out fines lines from within for visibly fuller and smoother lips. - Rich, satiny, saturated color wraps lips in luxury. Lasting color precisely defines contours. Signature Line : LANCÔME PARIS Standing Details : shop at lancome-usa.com This advertisement has several figurative languages in its headline and body copy. The headline of this advertisement, "The replenishing power of Pro-Xylane Absolutely voluptuous lips" contains three kinds of figurative languages, namely metaphor, hyperbole and ellipsis. Metaphor in the headline can be found in the phrase "the replenishing power of Pro-Xylane" since in this phrase the characteristic of deep hydration of Pro- Xylane is explained in other way by using the phrase "replenishing power. Hyperbole can be found in the phrase "Absolutely voluptuous lips" since it contains exaggeration of the lips by the adjective phrase "absolutely voluptuous". Based on Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the word "voluptuous" means expressing strong sexual feeling or sexual pleasure; and it is further enhanced by the adverbial "absolutely". While ellipsis, a gap or omission that have to be completed can be found in the combination of the above-mentioned phrases that construct the headline: "The replenishing power of Pro-Xylane Absolutely voluptuous lips". There should be a word that connects the phrase "The replenishing power of Pro-Xylane" and the phrase "Absolutely voluptuous lips". The omission of this connecting word can be categorized as an ellipsis. The body copy of this advertisement: "For the first time, Lancôme brings Pro- Xylane TM, its most complete and powerful replenishing molecule, to a lipcolor.; "Deep hydration pampers lips for 8 hours. The creamy, luscious formula plumps out fines lines from within for visibly fuller and smoother lips.; and Rich, satiny, saturated color wraps lips in luxury. Lasting color precisely defines contours" contains 5 personifications. The personification in the first part of the body copy:
"For the first time, Lancôme brings Pro-Xylane TM, its most complete and powerful replenishing molecule to a lipcolor" is in the phrase "Lancôme brings Pro- Xylane TM ", the Lancôme is assigned a human activity in which it "brings" the Pro- Xylane TM. The activity "brings" is assigned to Lancôme, a cosmetic producer, a non human. The personifications in the second part of body copy: "Deep hydration pampers lips for 8 hours. The creamy, luscious formula plumps out fines lines from within for visibly fuller and smoother lips" contains 2 personification. The first personification is in the sentence "deep hydration pampers lips for 8 hours", the deep hydration is assigned a human activity in which it "pampers" lips for 8 hours. The activity "pampers" is assigned to "deep hydration" a non-human. The second personification is found in the sentence "The creamy, luscious formula plumps out fines lines from within for visibly fuller and smoother lips", the creamy, luscious formula is assigned a human activity in which it "plumps out" lips for 8 hours. The activity "plumps out" is assigned to "the creamy, luscious formula" that is a nonhuman. The personifications in the third part of the body copy: "Rich, satiny, saturated color wraps lips in luxury. Lasting color precisely defines contours" contains two personifications. The first personification is in the sentence "Rich, satiny, saturated color wraps lips in luxury", the color is assigned a human activity in which it "wraps" lips in luxury. The activity "wraps" is assigned to "color", which is a non-human. The second personification is found in the sentence "Lasting color precisely defines contours", the lasting color is assigned a human activity in which it "defines" contours. The activity "defines" is assigned to "lasting color" that is a non-human. The use metaphor and hyperbole in this advertisement is aimed to add emotional intensity to otherwise merely informative statements; the use of phrase "replenishing power" and adjective phrase "absolutely voluptuous" give more emotional intensity to the sentence. The personifications in this advertisement are used to bring additional imagery to the sentence to make abstract concepts such as how the product works more concrete. The using of the words "brings" "pampers" "wraps", "plumps out" and "defines" make it easy for the readers to imagine how the product works.
Advertisement 3 Headline : GEOX the shoe that breathes. Illustration: GEOX products Body Copy : INTERNATIONAL PATENT By combining a microperforated rubber sole and the breathable waterproof membrane, the Geox system lets foot perspiration go out through the sole thus keeping your feet dry and healthy. Signature Line : - Standing Details : 575 MADISON AVENUE - NY ALSO AVAILABLE AT GEOX SHOPS NATIONWIDE 1-877- 280-GEOX - GEOX.COM This advertisement contains a metaphor in its headline. The headline "GEOX the shoe that breathes" contains a metaphor; the GEOX system that uses a microperforated rubber sole and the breathable waterproof membrane is said in other way by using the word "breathes". The metaphor in this advertisement is used to bring additional imagery and giving idea on how the product works. 6. Conclusion The cases of figurative languages usage that are found in advertisements in Vogue magazine and Women s Weekly magazine can be classified as follow: personification, hyperbole, metaphor, rhetorical question, ellipsis, parison, rhyme, antitheses, and anaphora. The purposes of using figurative language in advertisements found in the study are three purposes. The first one is bringing additional imagery into the sentence and making the abstract concrete. The second one is adding emotional intensity to otherwise merely informative statements and the last is saying much in brief and compact. The dominant purpose is bringing additional imagery into the sentence and making the abstract concrete. References Dyer, Gillian. 1982. Advertising as Communication. England: Clays Ltd. Leech, Geoffrey N. 1966. English in Advertising: A Linguistic Study of Advertising in
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